Mop



Feb. 15, 1938. K. s. ROGERS 2,108,727

MOP

Filed Oct. l1, 1955 l INVENTOR. A-/f/v/vf/ P06555.

MVM

ATTORNEYS.

Cil

Patented ret. 1s, 193s MOP Kenneth S. Boxers,4 Niles Township, BerrienCounty, Mich., assignor vto Niles Metalcraft mm. Niles, Mich.

Application October 1l,

1935, Serial No. 44,568

1o claims. i (o1. 15-119) This invention relates to mops, andparticularly to a mop employing sponge rubber as a mopping element. p

The primary object of the invention is to pro- 'vide a mop of thischaracter with novel means for extracting water from the mop element. V

A further object is to provide a mop in which the carrier for themopping element serves to guide a shiftable wringing roller assembly.

A further object is to provide a mop with a sponge rubber mop head withrespect to which a rigid roller journaling frame is shiftable to extractwater and dirt from the sponge rubber by compressing the same in amovement toward the outer end thereof.

Gther objects will be apparent from tion and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view of the mop.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary front view of the mop.

Figure'3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the mop.

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse sectional View of the mop taken online 6 4 of Fig. 3.

Figure is a vertical transverse sectional vie of the sponge holdingchannel taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 4, of a modiedroller frame operating connection.

Referring to the drawing, which illustrates th preferred embodiment ofthe invention, the numeral Il) designates an elongated mop handle to thelower end of which is secured a bracket II comprising a sleeveI2encircling and secured to the lower end of the mop handle, and a wideplate I3 angularly bent from said sleeve and including a transverseforward concave bend I4 in spaced relation above the bottom edge ofplate I3. A pair of spaced apertured ears I5 extend upwardly from theplate I3 on opposite sides of and in spaced relation to sleeve I2, andin inwardly spaced relation to the ends of said plate I3. -An invertedsheet metal channel having downwardly extending converging side walls I6and a central upper transverse body portion Il forms a carrier for arubber sponge IB. The upper portion of sponge' I8 is compressed in saidcarrier and the lower portion thereof tends to assume its normalexpanded position or shape to provide its sides I9 in downwardlydiverging relation and its bottom 2li in an arcuate formation or shape.The sponge rubber IB is preferably formed of a plurality of layers 2ladhesively secured together at their abutting sides, the adhesivesecuring the descrippreventing stretching or distortion of the rubbersponge from its normal desired shape. The plate I3 is adapted to haveface contacting engagement with the rear wall It of the sponge carryingchannel.

A bracket 22 is provided with a lower flange 23 adapted to bear againstthe iront wall I6 of the sponge channel, and an upper plate portion 24bearing on the upper transverse wall I1 of the channel. A pair ofaperturecl ears 25 extend upwardly from the inner edge of plate portion24 of bracket 22 in substantially equally spaced relation to the earsI5, and said ears 25 are provided with rearwardly extending end portions26 adapted to bear against the upper ends of the ears I5. A bolt 21extends through the apertures in each registering pair of ears I5 and25, and a thumb nut 2t is threaded on each bolt, whereby said bracket 22is clamped to bracket Ii. As the thumb nuts 2t are tightened, the pointof engagement of part 26 of bracket 22 with ear I5 of bracket II servesas a fulcrum above bolt 2l, whereby the plates I3 and 23 are swung inthe direction of each other to iirmly press against the walls i6 of thesponge channel. Opposed portions of the channel at the 2f corners formedby the side walls i6 and the transverse member Il of the sponge channelare cut laway transversely thereof at 29 adjacent the ends of plate i3and in spaced relation to the ends of said channel, for purposes to behereinafter set forth.

A roller mounting frame 3l! is mounted for vertical reciprocationrelative to the mop head structure. Frame 30 is of general U-shape andcomprises a central substantially horizontally extending portion 3i ofcurved cross sectional configuration provided with spaced centraldepending ears 32, and parallel downwardly extending end portions 33terminating in spaced arms 34. The arms 34 are aligned with cut-outs 29of the sponge channel and extend in downwardly diverging relation forthe major portion of their length, and terminate in substantiallyvertical portions provided with downwardly inwardly converging inneredges. The major spacing of the arms 3B of each pair is slightly greaterthan the major width of the Vsponge channel. At their lower ends thearms 34 journal shafts 35 of hard rubber rollers 3B in inwardly spacedrelation to the ends of said rollers. In its normal position thewringing roller assembly is positioned as illustrated in full lines inFig. 1. with the rollers 36 positioned in engagement with sponge I8adjacent the lower ends of walls I6 of the sponge channel, and the pointof greatest spacing of arms $6 positioned adjacent the top portion ofthe sponge channel which is of greatest width.

An operating member or lever 31 for the wringing roller assembly extendslongitudinally of the handle I and is provided with ears 38 adjacent itslower'. end and pivoted to the handle III and sleeve I2 at 39. At itsupper end the lever 31 is provided with an off-set 4I) spaced fromhandle III and forming a hand grip portion. Beginning at a pointadjacent ears 38 the lower end 4I is bent away from sleeve I2, andterminates in an upwardly directed end portion 42 positioned betweenears 32 of roller frame 30. A rivet or other suitable member 43 issecured to and extends between said ears 32, and extends loosely throughan aperture 43 in said lever part 42.

In the use of the device, excess water and dirt collected by sponge I8may be wrung or extracted therefrom by pivoting lever 31 to downwardlyshift frame 30 and the rollers carried, thereby, which lever pivotingdownwardly shifts the lever part 42 connected to said frame 30. In thedownward movement of the frame 30, the arms 34 thereof enter thecut-outs 29 in the sponge channel to be guided thereby. The rollers 36move downwardly in uniform axially spaced parallel relation, compressingthe sponge I8 as they do so, and thus effectively extract the waterwhich is pushed ahead of the rollers toward the lower end 20 of thesponge and which carries dirt particles with it. Thus the sponge isfreed of contained dirt while being wrung. When the rollers have reachedtheir lowermo'st position, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, thesides I9 of the sponge thereabove will be curved as illustrated indotted lines in Fig. l, and tend to hold the rollers and frame in theirlower position. 'Upon return movement of the rollers, however,particularly as they approach normal position, the sponge serves toupwardly urge the rollers. When the mop has been wrung and is ready foruse, the l rollers and their frame are disposed in an outof-the-wayposition, and the upwardly directed pressure applied by sponge i8 to therollers serves to hold lever 31 tight against handle I0. The rollers 36preferably project outwardly of the arms 34 of frame 3U a suilicientdistance to form guards or bumpers whereby neither the frame 30 nor thesponge channel can strike or mar an object against which the mop ispushed. Likewise, the sponge channel terminates short of the ends ofsponge I8 and rollers 36 as illustrated in Fig. 2, whereby said lastnamed members prevent marring of an object struck by the ends of the mophead. v

The mop is readily assembled and disassembled. Thus by removal of bolts21, the sponge channel is released from the mop handle. The sponge andchannel may then be removed from the mop as a unit, by longitudinallysliding the same through the opening between arms 34 provided and shapedto accommodate such sliding. It will thus be seen that, should thesponge I8 wear out, it may readily be replaced. The channel cut-outs 29serve as guides to insure proper positioning of parts upon reassembly,as well as serving the function of guiding the movement of frame 38relative to said channel. The cooperating ears 25, 26 and I5 which areconnected by screws 21 provide simple means for securing the partstogether in operative rigid relation to handle I0, and also serve,through plates I4 and 23 to reinforce the channel walls I6 and totighten their grip on sponge I8.

The use of a rubber sponge in a mop as described has been found to bevery eiective for cleaning purposes. to lessen the amount of free wateron the object to be cleaned, to collect sand and grit from napped orpiled fabrics; and serves the additional function in the instant deviceof eliminating necessity of means cooperating with the rollers to urgethem together as is conventionally employed in the art.

A modified construction of the device is illustrated in Fig. 6, andcomprises a different form of interconnection between lever 31 androller frame 30. In this construction the bent end 4I of lever 31terminates in an apertured portion 50 bent away from sleeve I2 andextending substantially horizontally and in spaced relation below crossmember 3I of roller frame 30. The bolt 5I passes through the aperture ofpart 58 and vertically from said part to and through an aperture incross member 3I of the roller frame. A coil spring 52 encircles bolt 5Iand bears at its opposite ends on roller frame cross member 3I and onlever part 50. A thumb nut 53 is threaded on bolt I. The purpose of thismodified construction is to adjust the roller frame relative to thesponge I8 so that, should said sponge'stretch, the rollers 36 cannevertheless be shifted to traverse the stretched dimension thereof andthus completely extract the water from the sponge. In other words,adjustment of thumb nut 53 can be made to either lengthen or shorten thespacing of lever part 5I) and cross member 3l, so that the limit ofmovement of the rollers 36 upon actuation of the lever may be adjustedto obtain an increased outer limit relative to the sponge frame upontightening of nut 53 or a reduced outer limit upon loosening of nut 53.

1. A mop comprising a channel mounting a mopping member therein, an openrigid frame reciprocable relative to said mopping member and including apair of spaced arms extending on opposite sides of said channel, a pairof rollers immovably journaled in spaced parallel relation on the endsof said arms, said channel having slots for guiding movement of the armstransversely of said mopping member, and means for reciprocating saidframe.

. 2. A mop comprising a handle, an angularly disposed channel carried bysaid handle, a sponge gripped in said channel with the projectingportion thereof flared, means for mounting said channel on said handle,an open rigid frame movably mounted on said channel and spanning saidchannel, a pair of spaced rollers immovably journaled on said frame andnormally positioned on opposite sides of and adjacent the mouth of saidchannel, and means for reciprocating said frame on said channel to shiftsaid rollers and compress said sponge therebetween.

3. A mop comprising an inverted channel gripping a portion of a spongewhich flares from the mouth of the channel, a unitary rigid framereciprocable transversely of and mounted on said channel journalingparallel rollers positioned on opposite sides of said sponge and spacedapart less than the ilared dimension of said sponge, and means fordepressing said frame to compress said sponge, the expansive action ofsaid sponge normally holding said frame in stationary raised inoperativeposition.

4. A mop comprising ahandle, a channel carried by said handle at anangle thereto, a sponge gripped in said channel and ilaring from themouth of said channel, a unitary rigid frame reciprocable transverselyof and mounted on said 9,10,797 channel journaling rollers positioned onopposite l sides of said sponge and spaced apart less than the ilareddimension of said sponge, and means pivoted to said handle, operable todepress said frame and compress said sponge, the expansive action ofsaid sponge normally positioning said rollers and frame to press saidmeans to stationary inoperative position against said handle.

5. l' mop comprising a handle, an inverted channel having downwardlyconverging sides gripping a portion of a sponge which flares from thechannel mouth, means for securing said channel to said handle and arigid shiftable frame movably mounted on said handle and immovablyJournaling spaced rollers positioned on opposite sides of said spongeand adapted to compress said sponge when shifted transversely thereof,.said sponge normally pressing said rollers and frame upwardly into theconcavities formed by said channel sides and ilaring sponge portion.

6. .A mop comprising a handle, a carrier xed to said handle and mountinga mopping member therein, a unitary frame mounting rollers engagingopposite sides of said mopping member, and shiftable transversely ofsaid carrier, frame shifting means carried'by said handle and includingan adjustable member ior controlling the limit to which said rollers maybe moved relative to said carrier upon shifting of said frame.

'1. A mop comprising a handle, a carrier unit having an expansiblemopping member therein, a rigid frame unit arching the carrier, saidframe unit having rollers at opposite sides thereof inxed predeterminedspaced relation and engaging opposite sides of the mopping member, oneof said units being reciprocable relative to the other to wring saidmopping member between said rollers and means ca 'rrled by the handleand cooperating with said handle to mount said units and eifect saidreciprocation.

8. A device as set forth in claim '1 including spaced arms carried bythe frame and on which the rollers are mounted and recesses in oppositesides of the carrier and ih which said arms move during the downwardmovement oi the frame.

- 9. A device as set forth in claim 7 including means whereby the limitsoi movement of the units may be varied.

10. A device as set forth in claim 7 wherein the mopping member is@formed from 'a resilient expansible material and normally bulgingwhereby said frame and rollerswill be held by the bulging thereof ininoperative position.

KENNETH S. ROGERS.

